Part 2: Introduction to Open-Channel Flow

SPRING 2005

1. The Froude number

2. Total head and specific energy
3. Hydraulic jump

1. The Froude Number

The main characteristics of flows in open channels are that:

there is a free surface, where the pressure is atmospheric;

the flow is driven by gravity.

The most important examples are down-slope flows and waves.
If the flow has characteristic length scale L and velocity scale U then the ratio of inertial
forces (mass acceleration) to gravitational forces (mass g) is of order
acceleration U (U/L) U 2

=
g
g
gL
The square root of this quantity is called the Froude number Fr. Since the characteristic
length scale involved in these flows is typically (but not always) the water depth h, the
Froude number is usually written
U
Fr =
(1)
gh

A flow with Fr < 1 is called subcritical or tranquil.

A flow with Fr > 1 is called supercritical or rapid.
Since Fr determines the ratio of inertial to gravitational forces, one might expect very
different behaviour according as Fr < 1 or Fr > 1 and this is indeed the case.

A second interpretation comes from noting that the speed of long waves in a channel of depth
h is given by c = gh . Then the Froude number can be regarded as the ratio
flow velocity
Fr =
(2)
wave speed
If Fr > 1 then the flow is moving faster than any disturbance can propagate upstream. Hence
the upstream flow cannot be changed by downstream conditions. If, on the other hand, Fr < 1
then circumstances downstream (e.g. weirs) can control the upstream flow.
The interpretation as a ratio of velocities (equation (2)) is analogous to the situation of sound
waves in a compressible fluid, where the corresponding ratio is the Mach number:
flow velocity
Ma =
sound speed
We dont usually push the analogy in undergraduate civil-engineering courses, but there is
considerable similarity between the equations governing flow in open channels and those in
high-speed compressible flow.

Introduction to Open-Channel Flow

David Apsley

2. Total Head and Specific Energy

zsurface

If the channel cross-section and slope are

fairly uniform and the flow is slowly-varying
(so that any vertical acceleration << g) then
the pressure is approximately hydrostatic:
p = g ( z surface z )
and at any horizontal position (or stage)
the piezometric pressure is constant; i.e.
p + gz = gz surface
or, in terms of head:
p
+ z = z surface
g

piezometric head
constant along here

h
zbed
datum

In other words, since the pressure is hydrostatic, any change in height is exactly offset by a
change in pressure head. Hence:
(i)
The piezometric head at any stage is independent of the particular streamline
but depends only on the height of the free surface.
(ii)
The hydraulic grade line coincides with the free surface.

At any point in the flow the total head (energy per unit weight) is
p
U2
+z+
H=
g
2g
Hence
U2
H = z surface +
2g


(3)

The height of the surface, zsurface, is the sum of the local height of the bed, zbed, and the
vertical depth of water, h. Hence,
U2
H = z bed + h +
(4)
2g

U2
The quantity h +
(i.e. the head relative to the local bed height) is called the specific
2g
energy. In this first-year course we will analyse the hydraulic jump in a horizontal channel
(so that zbed can be taken as zero and the specific energy is the same as the total head).
Hydraulics 2 will look at uniform flow in sloping channels and Hydraulics 3 at more general
flow with varying bed heights.
If there are no energy losses then H is constant. In practice there are:
(i)
bed friction losses, giving rise to the gradually-varying flow equation (Hydraulics 3);
(ii)
large energy losses at hydraulic jumps.

Introduction to Open-Channel Flow

David Apsley

3. Hydraulic Jump

A hydraulic jump is an abrupt change from a shallow high-speed flow to a deep low-speed
flow of lower energy.
It occurs when either the bed slope and changes to water depth are insufficient to compensate
for the high frictional losses associated with rapid flow, or when a height differential is
imposed by upstream and downstream conditions (sluice gates, weirs, ...).
Rapid flow may be created by, for example, a steep spillway or sluice gate. The formation of
a hydraulic jump at the base of a spillway may be desirable to remove surplus energy and
reduce downstream erosion.
Across a hydraulic jump:
mass is conserved;
the momentum principle is satisfied;
mechanical energy is lost (mostly as heat).

u2
h1

u1

Assume (for simplicity):

horizontal channel bed;
rectangular cross-section of uniform width w;
velocity uniform over cross-section;
negligible bed friction over the length of the jump.

Continuity
Flow rate per unit width is constant:
u1h1 = u 2 h2

(5)

Momentum
Consider a control volume encompassing the jump.
Since streamlines are parallel, the pressure at stations 1 and 2 is hydrostatic and the average
pressure is given by p av = 12 gh . Bed friction may be neglected if the jump region is short.
Hence, the momentum principle (rate of change of momentum = force) gives:
( u 2 wh2 )u 2 ( u1 wh1 )u1 = p av ,1 ( wh1 ) p av , 2 ( wh2 )
or, dividing by the width w,
u 22 h2 u12 h1 = p av ,1 h1 p av , 2 h2
= 12 gh12 12 gh22


u 22 h2 u12 h1 = 12 g (h12 h22 )

Introduction to Open-Channel Flow

(6)

David Apsley

h2

Velocities
Eliminate u2 using continuity ( u 2 = u1 h1 /h2 ):
h12
h1 ) = 12 g (h12 h22 )
h2
h
u12 1 (h1 h2 ) = 12 g (h1 h2 )(h1 + h2 )
h2
h
u12 = 12 g 2 (h1 + h2 )
(7)
h1
An exactly similar expression for u2 may be derived by using continuity or, more simply, by
noting that equations (5) and (6) are unchanged by interchanging 1 and 2:
h
u 22 = 12 g 1 (h1 + h2 )
(8)
h2
u12 (

Energy Change
The total head (energy per unit weight) change in the transition is
u2
u2
H = ( 2 + h2 ) ( 1 + h1 )
2g
2g
Using the expressions above for u12 and u 22 :
1 2
H =
(u 2 u12 ) + h2 h1
2g
h h
1
= (h1 + h2 )( 1 2 ) + h2 h1
4
h2 h1
which, after some simple but tedious algebra (exercise), gives
(h h2 ) 3
H= 1
4h1 h2

(9)

It follows, that:

Since mechanical energy cannot increase in the transition one must have H < 0 or
h1 < h2
i.e. the jump must be from shallow to deep flow;

The energy loss rises sharply with difference in depths.

Froude Numbers
Finally, we show that the upstream flow must be supercritical (rapid) and the downstream
flow subcritical (tranquil) and that the ratio of a downstream quantity (h2 or u2) to the
corresponding upstream quantity is dependent only on the Froude number.
Dividing equations (7) and (8) by gh1 or gh2, respectively,
u12
h
1 h2
2
Fr1
=
(1 + 2 )
gh1
2 h1
h1
Introduction to Open-Channel Flow

(10)

David Apsley

u 22
h
1 h1
=
(1 + 1 )
(11)
gh2
2 h2
h2
Since h2/ h1 > 1, it follows that Fr1 > 1 and Fr2 < 1; i.e. the upstream flow is supercritical and
the downstream flow subcritical.

Fr22

h1 and h2 are called sequent depths or conjugate depths. (10) can be rearranged as a quadratic
h
for their ratio, the jump, r = 2 :
h1
r 2 + r 2Fr12 = 0
with solution (the negative root is impossible):
h
r = 2 = 12 (1 + 1 + 8Fr12 )
h1

(12)

By interchanging subscripts 1 and 2 we can also use:

1 1
= 2 (1 + 1 + 8Fr22 )
r

Hydraulic Jump Summary

A hydraulic jump is a rapid transition from supercritical (Fr > 1) to subcritical (Fr < 1) flow
with consequent loss of mechanical energy.
The jump (r = h2/h1) is given by:
r = 12 (1 + 1 + 8Fr12 )

Fr1 =

or

1
2

r (1 + r )

The loss of head is given by

(r 1) 3
H1 H 2 =
h1
4r
and the power loss by
gQ( H 1 H 2 )

Introduction to Open-Channel Flow

David Apsley

Example. Flow in a 150 mm wide channel jumps from a depth of 50 mm to 150 mm. What
are the upstream and downstream velocities, the volumetric flow rate and the rate of energy
loss at the jump?

Example (Exam, June 2004 re-worded slightly).

Water is flowing along a narrow channel of width w =100 mm and undergoes a hydraulic
jump. The depth and speed of the flow before the jump are h1 and u1 respectively, whilst the
depth and speed after the jump are h2 and u2 respectively.

(a)

If the depth before and after the jump are h1 = 10 mm and h2 = 90 mm, what is the net
horizontal force due to the hydrostatic pressure acting on the control volume?

(b)

Give an expression for the rate of change of momentum for the fluid passing through
the jump in terms of u1. Hence find the speeds u1 and u2, and thus the volumetric flow
rate.

Introduction to Open-Channel Flow

David Apsley